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Battery Keeps Dying- Fusebox Help!
Topic Started: Jun 10 2011, 06:06 PM (4,881 Views)
mwebb
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FOG

mwebb
Jun 11 2011, 10:51 PM
http://geometroforum.com/topic/2716924/1/#new
read that
print it
put a copy in the bathroom and read it when you spend time in there .

then
read it again

then implement it on your car

you key off engine off everything off current must be less than 75 milliamps or .075 amps
you can buy a 1 ohm 10 watt resister at radio shack , connect it in series with the battery , measure voltage across the resistor
since E= IR or Voltage = current (amps) X resistance (ohms) and since R = 1 then E = I or
voltage = current (amps) measured across the resistor

so you will not pop any more fuses in your meter , but a high current flow will turn that resistor into a
fingerprint remover
clearly
you did not read this

, read it now , you do not need to be a rocket scientist to understand or use voltage drop testing
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Deleted User
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bennie442 has the right idea. The key point is test amperage draw at the battery.

You really need a clamp on style meter to test current draw. This is an inexpensive model. It will not read milliamps. It only reads 1/10th amp.

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=dc+low+current+clamp+meter&hl=en&biw=1003&bih=597&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=9928829496129257978&sa=X&ei=K6X2TdvaD6Ld0QH-nfnsDA&ved=0CHwQ8wIwBg#

This is the “good” one. Very expensive. However, very accurate.

http://www.fluke.com/fluke/usen/electrical-test-tools/clamp-meters/fluke-355-and-353.htm?PID=56071

But, let’s recap. Alternator dies, installed new alternator. New alternator works upon installation. Replaced battery. But, subsequent to the battery installation, you have you tested the output voltage of the alternator?

The battery is the only device in the electrical system that can absorb an incredible amount of power without starting a fire. A battery with a high internal resistance will cause an alternator to put out higher than normal amperage, and lead to premature failure. Your 50 or 55 amp standard alternator can probably put out 70+ amps. It can not put out 70+ amps continuously for several thousand hours. It will fail.

If you get the opportunity, test your alternator output. It will show 14 volts on your DVOM. You do not know how it will perform under a load. Take it to a place that can put a load on it and have it tested. Operating the alternator on the old battery may have caused some damage.

That being said and done, and all is well, if you still have a problem . . .

Finding the problem is starting with the simple and obvious. Check to see that the dome light switch is in the off position and the door post switches work properly like Dayle1960 suggested.

Now, comes decision time. You can use the finger burning resistor method suggested by mwebb. I’m sure mwebb has a high dollar current meter in his shop, and knows how to use it. Or, you can spend $600 on a high dollar meter and use the bennie442/mwebb method of testing. However, electrical issues tend to be very simple to fix, or extremely difficult to find. If it is not simple, my suggestion would be to find a local person who is talented in electrical systems, and has a good Fluke or similar clamp on ammeter. If it’s a buddy deal, good. If it’s a shop, it may cost you nearly as much as a good Fluke, but the problem will be found and repaired. In the long run, well worth it.
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Jezza
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Boost Junkie

Watch this:



DO IT!!!

Problem solved
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squanchy26
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[ *  * ]
If you guys had read my earlier posts i have all ready done this. I got 6.75V at the battery and alternator, which i all ready said. Then i tested for a battery drain to rule that out and got 0.01 amps , Which i all ready said. Nobody responded for awhile so , sorry dale, in a hurry to fix my car cause it is costing me dearly in gas EVERY day as my wife is using another vehicle to drive her 75 miles per day of stop and go delivering papers, i went to check my ground cables to make for CERTAIN it was my alternator. Now today i came home to take it to a mechanic friend, jumped it and it died withing 5 minutes. After the drive which was some 15 miles it was idling outside his house and his voltmeter read 12.65v. Wife said , as she was traveling behind me, that there were barely brake lights then after the first stop sign as i was revving to keep it from dying they got really bright and stayed that way for the remainder if the drive. If you guys take a look i have posted plenty of information and i was trying all the things that most suggested. It seems kind of silly to me to say "this may sound kind of harsh but do this" when i have done that and the answer to what your asking me to do is 7 posts up. Im not trying to be mean, but i could understand all of your guys frustration if im not doing what your asking and you are just trying to help. On the contrary i am doing what asked and all it takes is a flick of the index finger on the scroll wheel.
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Jezza
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Sigh ...

Squanchy, I think its time to take the car to a good electrician. DIY can only do SO MUCH!! And clearly the problem is over your and our heads. Being cheap sometimes works out more expensive (as you are realizing after buying a battery and alt and STILL having the problem)

Take my advice please and dont buy any more equipment/parts :thumb
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squanchy26
New Member
[ *  * ]
Wow. It is at an electrician. He informed me that the alternator in that car has an internal voltage regulator, and there is a good chance that i went back and forth ruining alternator and batteries. Furthermore i have fixed many vehicles of my own and am pretty good at it. I had a crazy problem that i could not figure out. On top of which i had many people being condescending and not listening or taking the time to READ MY POSTS and just decided to put there two cents in. My entire experience on this site has been a waste of time with no results and i am glad that i will not be asking this website for advice. Especially when its VALUED MEMBERS like JEZZA are pointing people to "Not buy any more parts" and encouraging people to just take it to a mechanic. Does that not go against the basic principles of this forum? Horrible experience. I can fix anyone's problems if i tell them to take it to a mechanic! Maybe i should start my own forum!
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squanchy26
New Member
[ *  * ]
In closing thank you to Benni442 , Geo Glenn , Mwebb , Dayle and Woodie. Your guys information was useful and helpful. It also forced me to learn more about the electronics of a car. I am sorry i did not include that in my last post.
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Deleted User
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squanchy26
Jun 16 2011, 08:59 PM
In closing thank you to Benni442 , Geo Glenn , Mwebb , Dayle and Woodie. Your guys information was useful and helpful. It also forced me to learn more about the electronics of a car. I am sorry i did not include that in my last post.
You're welcome squanchy26, I guess. Electrical problems are the hardest to fix over the phone, and in person, sometimes. That 12.65v is not quite enough to sustain life for very long. I imagine that your alternator vendor will warranty the unit. Just don't fill them in on the details about the above, lest they suspect "foul play", so to speak. It's not unusual from one of my "name brand" aircraft electrical component vendors to have alternators that don't work out of the box, or fail within the first five minutes. I'm not naming any names . . . the airplane guys know who I mean. I'm certain that it happens in car world, too.

Now, aircraft alternators go to a small shop where I can talk to "Jimmy". I have had no problems with them, except that their components are supplied the the "name brand" vendor. :smackface

I have a local electrical shop in Kansas City where the guy know my name. He gets to fix my broken alternators and starters, and will stand behind whatever he services or sells.

Lessons learned the hard way and habits changed. For what it's worth. :D
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Justahoby
Unqualified informant

Bumping old thread... having similar oddest issues.. grounds good, new cables, all a sudden dead new batteries and alternators... doesn't die overnight.. pull cable alternator charges... but at times everything dims... and car won't make it 60 miles out of town, like I am not getting voltage to the regular plug.. just the weirdest thing I have seen.. tempted to bypass the issue with a swith and resistor and pass the idiot light to see if it will excite.. been running a 95 amp GM alternator for over a year... just acting weird, no matterr how many times I replace the battery and alternator.. I know I have it wired correctly as a Chevy guy who knows GM alternators, just seems to me an electrical issue is shutting down the regulator, like a short.. this guy find his issue,? May help me out....
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freegeo
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Why do you need a 95 amp alt? The car came with a 55 amp alt stock.

What voltage are you getting across the battery post with the engine running?
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Justahoby
Unqualified informant

freegeo
Jul 30 2015, 12:50 AM
Why do you need a 95 amp alt? The car came with a 55 amp alt stock.

What voltage are you getting across the battery post with the engine running?
I can run whatever alt.. I want too.. Do you ask that question to others running the cs 130 upgrade?

Voltage will be low with reduction pulley I have been running only at idle... headlights
HOWEVER
It charges fine at highways speeds(but now not always), and I firmly believe there is a short or bad ecu, that is loading it up and shutting the regulator down. I am about to find another car... just looking for another answer.

It is not an overnight draw but drains somewhere on the highway on my way somewhere. I replaced the alternator........ wasted money on a new alternator, same crap... battery replaced under waranty, same crap.. new cables every where.. all grounds on and clean.. and I smell an electronic silicon burn..

Specifically why I ask if this guy found the issue
Edited by Justahoby, Jul 30 2015, 12:34 PM.
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Justahoby
Unqualified informant

Only thing I did have and did not ever put in was a spare ecu... I have it because a couple times in the past it would crank and not start unless I took the negative cable off for a few minutes.. it would only do it in the peak of a hot Texas day.... other than that it quit doing it so I never put it in
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geogonfa
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things I would check:
the wires at the bottom of the power distribution center/fuse box under the hood for corrosion...
the black/white stripe wire at the fuse box connector ( #1 cavity in the C7 connector).
the wiring behind the drivers side fender, it has a tendency to wear through at the grommet going into the cabin...
and check the headlight connector plug at the fuse box for total melt down...
:type
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Justahoby
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geogonfa
Jul 30 2015, 01:34 PM
things I would check:
the wires at the bottom of the power distribution center/fuse box under the hood for corrosion...
the black/white stripe wire at the fuse box connector ( #1 cavity in the C7 connector).
the wiring behind the drivers side fender, it has a tendency to wear through at the grommet going into the cabin...
and check the headlight connector plug at the fuse box for total melt down...
:type
Thank you.. if it is aNY thing like that it would make sense.. I am doing papers for summer finals, will check Saturday. It has been occasionally making my dash gauges jump, for about a month now all this
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geogonfa
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I guessing my first check would be to pull the PDC and check those wires for the corrosion, dang wire from the Alternator powers everything
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